LA PUENTE — Antonio Ojeda was riding a skateboard on his way home when he was gunned down the night of May 18. As the wounded man lay on 2nd Street, residents heard his cries. “Help me. I’m dying.”

The La Puente man was taken to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center where he died. Deputies said three men suspected in the gang-related shooting were seen in a silver Honda Accord.

Several residents criticized how law enforcement handled the fatal shooting from the response times to how the victim was treated. Ojeda’s family also wanted answers. In response, city officials held a community meeting Friday night at La Puente City Hall.

The gathering was to talk about the issues and how the city is going forward, Mayor Charles Klinakis said.

Klinakis said Councilman David Argudo told him several citizens on 2nd Street, 3rd Street and some other places were concerned about the shooting.

Argudo said he received 30 phone calls about the incident. People’s concerns included being put on hold for a 9-1-1 call, the time it took for help to arrive at the scene and the fear of retaliation, he added.

“Some people had perceptions it took 40 minutes for help to get there,” Argudo said.

Others mentioned varying times such as the minister who prayed with Ojeda. He said the minister felt it was 12 to 13 minutes before deputies arrived.

Records show a deputy was at the scene a minute after the station received a 9-1-1 call, a field sergeant was there in two minutes and firefighters arrived in three minutes, according to sheriff’s and fire officials

Still, residents described waiting for help to show up and hearing Ojeda screaming.

A woman said she went into the house, put on a robe, came out and still no ambulance.

“And we could hear the poor boy,” she said. “Who can we call? We weren’t let through.”

Another woman said her daughter saw Ojeda bleeding from the wrist and wondered why didn’t deputies use their neckties as a tourniquet. Both residents didn’t give their names.

Ojeda’s sister, Kristal, said there were a lot of deputies at the scene.

“Why couldn’t an officer give him CPR? “Why not help him out,” Kristal Ojeda said.

“Your officers could have done more. I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else the way it happened to my brother. Gangster or no gangster. It’s human being, not a dog. Help them.”

Juanita Ojeda wanted to know how long before authorities arrived, why her son wasn’t taken instead to Citrus Valley Medical Center – Queen of the Valley campus in West Covina which is closer and why a helicopter wasn’t used to transport him to the hospital.

She also mentioned how her daughter was rudely treated by a deputy at the scene.

Kristal Ojeda told a deputy her brother had been shot. She said his response was he didn’t give a (expletive) who her brother was and told her to get out of there. She said he continued putting up yellow crime scene tape and turned his back on her.

She said a female deputy was the only one who helped her.

Industry Station Capt. Tim Murakami described a shooting as an emotionally charged situation.

“When you have a loved one shot, time slows down. You have emotion versus reality,” Murakami said.

The captain said a deputy being disrespectful is not tolerated. He told Kristal Ojeda to talk to the lieutenant assigned to the city who will look into the complaint.

Assistant Fire Chief Dave Stone said when there is an active shooter incident, they have to allow the deputies to clear the scene so it is safe.

“We were there within your son’s side in seven minutes,” Stone told Juanita Ojeda.

Antonio Ojeda was in an ambulance in six minutes and in a trauma center in 40 minutes, he said. Stone explained that the closest helicopter was in Brackett and it was faster to take Ojeda by ambulance.

He pointed out that Queen of the Valley used to be a trauma center. Stone said the closest trauma center to the east San Gabriel Valley is Los Angeles County USC Medical Center.

Lt. Pete Cacheiro, who serves as La Puente’s police chief, said he completely sympathizes with the Ojeda family and he would look into their complaint about being treated rudely by a deputy. He said there are things they cannot discuss because it is an ongoing investigation. But he did say deputies stopped two vehicles after the shooting.

“We have multitude ways to find perpetrators. You have to trust us,” he said.

Cacheiro said deputies don’t have the medical equipment that the fire department carries.

“Our goal is to stabilize the scene, look for the shooter, preserve the crime scene,” he said.

“Did we just say, ‘Let’s leave him?’ No.”

Juanita Ojeda said after the gathering that you never think you would bury your children.

“It hits you hard,’ she said.

On May 18, she said her oldest son left the house for about 15 minutes to visit a friend. The friend told Antonio Ojeda to be careful because she heard three gunshots earlier.

“He said ‘I’m going home then. I don’t want problems.’ He was coming home,” she said.

Ruby Gonzales started working for the company in 1991. Since then she has written about cities, school districts, crimes, cold cases, courts, the San Gabriel River, local history, anime, insects, forensics and the early days of the Internet when people still referred to it as the "information superhighway." Her current beat includes breaking news, crimes and courts for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star News and Whittier Daily News. When not in crime reporter mode, she frequents the remaining bookstores in the San Gabriel Valley, haunts craft stores or gets dragged to eateries by a relative who is a foodie.

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